Italian Zucchini boats, one of my favorite childhood recipes. Easy to prepare and super fun to eat. A great way to use zucchini and add some veggies in your kids’ diet.

Have you ever carved a zucchini? It’s easy. Cut it length wise and make a rectangle incision with a knife in the white pulp. Be careful and do not cut through the green skin. Using a teaspoon scoop out the pulp creating your boat. You will obtain two boats from each zucchini.

Season them with some sea salt and line them up in a baking dish greased with some olive oil.

At this point I usually start preheating the oven to 400F and proceed to the filling preparation. In a food processor I add the zucchini pulp and pulse for few seconds to obtain a grainy texture. This really saves me a good 5 minutes of finely chopping the pulp with a knife.

In a big bowl add the ground pork, zucchini pulp, breadcrumbs, grated parmesan cheese, hemp seeds, parsley and adjust with 1/2 tsp of salt. Mix and fill the zucchini boats.

Drizzle some extra parmesan cheese on top the zucchini and olive oil.

Bake in preheated oven to 400F for a good 45 minutes. The parmesan cheese on top will form a lovely golden crust. Serve and enjoy!

CAN I USE A DIFFERENT MEAT?

Sure! I used pork as it’s tasty and not too fat, but you can use turkey or chicken for a leaner meat or ground beef or bison.

CAN I ADD EGGS?

Yes! The traditional Italian recipe adds one egg into the mix. You will obtain a more compact filling.

CAN THE RECIPE BE DAIRY FREE?

If you are looking for a dairy free recipe you might want to substitute the Parmesan cheese with nutritional yeast, same quantity.

CAN THE RECIPE BE GLUTEN FREE?

For a gluten free recipe you can substitute the breadcrumbs with almond meal or rice breadcrumbs.

INTERESTED IN MORE ZUCCHINI RECIPES?

I love cooking with zucchini. Check out these other recipes and let me know what you think!

Creamy Zucchini Ricotta Lasagna Gluten Free

Easy Cheesy Baked Zucchini Balls – Italian recipe

Healthy & Easy Chickpeas Zucchini Pesto Pasta – One family, one recipe.

Tropical Pineapple Zucchini Coconut Muffins – Dairy Free

Easiest Zucchini Pasta with Feta & Balsamic. Happy Family Meal.

Quinoa Zucchini Chickpea Gluten Free Salad +9M

Egg Free Zucchini Turkey Meatballs +9M

Zucchini White Beans Mac And Cheese +9M

PrintItalian Stuffed Zucchini Boats with Ground PorkIngredients

  • 6mediumzucchini
  • 1lbgrond pork
  • 5Tbspgrated parmesan cheese
  • 5Tbspbradcrumbs
  • 6Tbspolive oil in total
  • 1/2tspsea salt
  • 2Tbsphemp seeds
  • 2Tbspminced parsley

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400F.

  2. Cut the zucchini length wise and make a rectangular incision with a knife in the white pulp. Be careful and do not cut through the green skin. Using a teaspoon scoop out the pulp creating your boat. You will obtain two boats from each zucchini. 

  3. Season the inside of the zucchini with some sea salt, line them up in a baking dish greased with some olive oil and set aside.

  4. In a food processor add the zucchini pulp and pulse for few seconds to obtain a grainy texture.

  5. In a big bowl add the ground pork, zucchini pulp, breadcrumbs, grated parmesan cheese, hemp seeds, parsley and adjust with 1/2 tsp of salt. Mix.

  6. Fill the zucchini with the pork mix and sprinkle some parmesan cheese on top. Sprinkle with olive oil and bake in preheated oven to 400F for 45 minutes.

Recipe Video

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  • Easy Cheesy Baked Zucchini Balls – Italian recipe
  • Healthy & Easy Chickpeas Zucchini Pesto Pasta – One family, one recipe.
  • Tropical Pineapple Zucchini Coconut Muffins – Dairy Free
  • Easiest Zucchini Pasta with Feta & Balsamic. Happy Family Meal.
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